Global coronavirus deaths cross 350,000-mark
EU set to unveil ambitious one-trillion-euro recovery plan to get continent back on its feet
PARIS: More than 350,000 deaths from the new coronavirus have been recorded worldwide since it first appeared in China in December.
A total of 350,196 deaths have been reported, from 5,589,389 cases, including 173,713 in Europe from 2,057,414 infections.
The United States has registered the most deaths of any country, 98,929, ahead of Britain with 37,048, Italy with 32,955, France with 28,530 and Spain with 27,117.
The number of diagnosed cases, however, reflects only a fraction of the actual number of infections as many countries test only serious cases or lack testing capacity.
South Korea reported 40 new infections on Wednesday — the biggest daily jump in nearly 50 days — as millions of children were returning to school.
PARIS: More than 350,000 deaths from the coronavirus have been recorded worldwide since it first appeared in China in December, according to a tally compiled by AFP. A total of 350,196 deaths have been reported, from 5,589,389 cases, including 173,713 in Europe from 2,057,414 infections. The US has registered the most deaths of any country, 98,929 as per a Johns Hopkins University tally, ahead of Britain with 37,048, Italy with 32,955, France with 28,530 and Spain with 27,117.
However, the number of diagnosed cases, reflects only a fraction of the actual number of infections as many countries test only serious cases or lack testing capacity.
Meanwhile, a one-trillion-euro recovery plan to get Europe back on its feet after the devastation wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic was set to be unveiled on Wednesday, as badly hit Spain started 10 days of national mourning for its thousands of dead. The massive European proposal follows other unprecedented emergency measures introduced around the world to rescue economies shattered by the disease.
While the virus continues to cause havoc in Latin America, Europe has started reopening businesses, but Italy and Spain lack the firepower of richer European nations to rebuild their economies.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen will deliver a onetrillion-euro proposal to the European Parliament on
Wednesday, aiming to help the worst-affected countries using a mix of grants and loans.
That is expected to kick off tough negotiations, as backers try to win the support of some northern EU states that are opposed to paying out aid in grants to nations already under mountains of debt -- such as Italy and Spain.
Spain on Wednesday will begin a 10-day official mourning for the more than 27,000 people who died of the disease in the country, with all flags on public buildings lowered to half-mast.
The Iberian nation and others hit particularly hard such as Italy, Germany, France and Britain have all started easing their lockdowns, as people head to shops, sunbathe at beaches and run in parks after months of confinement.
While many Western nations were inching back towards some form of normality, the virus was continued its march in Latin America, which has outpaced Europe and the US in the number of daily infections.
“We are particularly concerned that the number of new cases reported last week in Brazil was the highest for a seven-day period, since the outbreak began,” said Carissa Etienne, director of the Washington-based Pan American Health Organization.
As Brazil’s daily death rate climbs to the highest in the world, a University of Washington study warned that its total death toll could climb five-fold to 125,000 by early August. The forecast came from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).